It didn’t take too long for an important lacrosse game to take place at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, and it had nothing to do with either the boys or girls Northstars squads.
On March 24, C-NS hosted a rare college lacrosse spectacular as Syracuse University, ranked no. 11 at the time, rallied from behind with four straight goals late in the fourth quarter and then defeated no. 2 Duke 9-8 in overtime.
Nearly 4,800 attended this game, many of them the same fans that would return to this venue to see how the C-NS sides would fare once their respective 2019 seasons got underway.
Of the two, the girls Northstars had the more difficult opening-week assignments, capped by a Saturday visit from fellow Class A power Baldwinsville in the SCAC Metro division opener for both teams.
The Bees, already with two wins on the season, prevailed 17-8, all but deciding matters by racing out to a 12-3 lead late in the first half, and then staying calm as the Northstars made a four-goal run in the middle stages.
With a young starting lineup (four sophomores, three freshmen and a seventh-grader), C-NS had Fran Tortora get two goals and two assists, with Molly Malchanoff also converting twice.
That seventh-grader, Brooke Malchanoff, earned a single goal, as did Rylie Kock, Gabriella Cicarello and Paige Dorgan. B’ville had Emma Gebhardt earn four goals, with Katie Pascale and Jenna Pastore both earning three goals.
Before that, C-NS had hosted Rush-Henrietta (Section V) last Tuesday night, and its defense struggled most of the way in an 18-12 defeat to the Royal Comets.
Rush-Henrietta worked its way to an 11-7 advantage by halftime. Trying to rally, the Northstars leaned heavily on the duo of Tortora and Molly Molchanoff, each of whom finished with four goals.
Brooke Molchanoff helped with two goals and one assist, with single goals going to Dorgan and Ciciarello. In goal, Alyssa Wilson recorded seven saves.
A night later, that same Rush-Henrietta team lost, 12-6, to Baldwinsville, illustrating for C-NS the difficulty it faced when it took on the Bees.
On Friday night, it was the turn of the C-NS boys to open as it faced two-time reigning Section III Class B champion East Syracuse Minoa.
The Northstars have a new head coach, Jack McAndrew replacing Bill Aldrich, and it nearly found success in this opening assignment, only to have a rough third quarter prove costly in an 11-9 defeat to the Spartans.
Trailing 3-2 after one period, C-NS caught up and were even, 6-6, going into halftime. During the third period, though, ESM moved back in front, 11-9, and protected that slim margin the rest of the way.
Joel Firth earned three goals, with Anthony Cimino getting four assists. Josh Pickard scored twice as single goals went to Ethan Barrett, Matt Cramer, Aidan Longley and Chase Casler.
Though Joe Bartolo finished with nine saves, C-NS had a difficult time stopping ESM’s trio of Lance Madonna, Gavin Houghtaling and Tim Crouse as Madonna got five goals, with Houghtaling and Crouse earning three goals apiece.
Still at home this week, the Northstars hosted Marcellus Monday and welcome LaFayette on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, the C-NS girls face reigning sectional Class D champion South Jefferson on Tuesday and go to Westhill on Thursday.
